What do you call your vagina? Noon, fanny, fufu, vajajay, box — the list goes on.
Actress Jameela Jamil recently revealed that she’s personally a fan of the nickname ‘rat’. Each to their own, I suppose.
Either way, for most of my adolescence, it felt as though society was happy to refer to the vagina as just about anything except that.
First we started with childish pet names, then as we got older we were exposed to new labels, ones that sometimes came with dark connotations or harmful stereotypes.
And some of them, whether we like it or not, stick with us as we grow into adults.
But, the real question is: is the nickname we give our vagina just a random linguistic decision, or is there a deeper message waiting to be unearthed? Well, thankfully, a team of academics did the work for us.
Why does what I call my vagina matter?
For decades now, academics have stated that the names we use in reference to our genitals have a lot more to do with broad gender structures and social hierarchies than personal preference.
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And in October 2025, a group of scholars took this thought ten steps further, publishing a report titled: ‘Vagina, Pussy, Vulva, Vag: Women’s Names for Their Genitals are Differentially Associated with Sexual and Health Outcomes.’
The study, which gathered information from 475 women in the US, representing diverse age groups, identified nine categories of genital naming:
- anatomical (vulva, vagina)
- vulgar (pussy, cunt)
- playful/childish (hoo haa, vajayjay)
- euphemisms (down there, private parts)
- gender identity (her, girl)
- clitoris (any terms related to the clitoris)
- edible (cookie, muffin)
- nature (venus, beaver)
- receptacle (hole, box)
These different kinds of names were then used to try and understand these women’s’ perception of things like genital self-image (GSI), sexual pleasure, and genital health.
The team also looked at how both sexual and non-sexual contexts play a role in how these women considered different names.
Childish nicknames linked to negative self-image
Metro spoke with one of the paper’s authors Tanja Oschatz, a PhD student in social psychology and sexual science, to discuss the findings.
According to Tanja, one of the biggest takeaways was that it’s important to try and stay away from using playful/childish terms such as ‘hoo haa’.
These kinds of names were used by roughly 15% of the participants. The women who opted for these terms tended to report more negative feelings about their genitals.
‘I think playful or childish terms may carry particularly strong connotations of shame, embarrassment, or emotional distancing,’ Tanja explains.
‘These are often the terms people are first exposed to in childhood, when genitals are treated as something awkward, secret, or not to be talked about openly. As a result, such language may continue to signal immaturity or discomfort rather than normality or acceptance.’
The use of these playful terms was also linked to a lower perception of a partner’s enjoyment of giving oral sex, a greater likelihood of using vaginal cleaning products, and a higher interest in getting labiaplasty.
Euphemisms are associated with shame
Similar to childish or playful nicknames, euphemisms like ‘down there’ or ‘private parts’ are still incredibly popular among adult women.
Approximately one third of the participants in Tanja’s study relied on these kinds of terms to describe their genitalia, revealing an enduring embarrassment surrounding female genitalia.
An interesting comparison is how, while there are equivalent euphemisms for male genitalia (such as ‘thing’), patriarchal structures have meant that women’s genitalia has been referred to with euphemisms on a much larger cultural scale.
This ties in to society’s historic attempt to trivialise and remove value from women’s bodies.
Anatomical terms encourage openness
In the same way that childlike or playful nicknames can harbour embarrassment, anatomical terms can embolden self-confidence.
Within the paper, it’s noted that using correct anatomical names can not only ‘aid in sexual abuse prevention, by enabling people to clearly communicate about their bodies,’ but it also ‘facilitates open discussions about personal (sexual) experiences.’
A number of charities encourage parents to openly discuss and name genitalia with their children, so as to create an environment where the child feels comfortable bringing it up themselves or asking questions.
This is still clearly a prevalent issue among adult women. The Big Vagina Report, an initiative launched by women’s health brand Balance Activ in 2023, found that 65% of women in the UK reported discomfort using anatomical terms like ‘vagina’ or ‘vulva,’ instead, favouring euphemisms such as ‘lady parts.’
Vulgar terms are positively linked to sexual pleasure
On the flip side, Tanja found that ‘terms commonly perceived as degrading or insulting’ such as ‘pussy’ were reflective of quite positive GSI when used in sexual contexts.
The expert explained how words like these may change their meaning and emotional connotation when they are used in an agentic way by women themselves.
Tanja shared: ‘In sexual contexts, such terms could function as a form of linguistic reclamation: language that is traditionally stigmatising/degrading/sexist is reappropriated in a self-directed, empowering manner.’
‘When used deliberately and voluntarily, this kind of language may support feelings of control, sexual confidence, and openness to pleasure, rather than shame.’
Interestingly, Tanja adds, while playful or childish terms were linked to more negative genital self-image and less favourable health-related outcomes when used in everyday, non-sexual contexts, when the same types of terms were used in sexual contexts, they were associated with higher levels of sexual pleasure.’
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